I've got a bit of birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and was thinking of adding an octave to my collection of guitar pedals. (Really enjoying that effect on JGB tunes like Cats.) My budget is under $100 and I have done some online looking at the MXR Blue Box (about $70) and the EH Octave Multiplexer (around $80). The Boss OC-30 is about $130. My question is this: Are either of the two pedals in my current budget worthwhile or should I save a bit toward something else like the Boss?

(I gave the forum a search for this already but didn't come with too much comparative info, so I hope I'm not being redundant with this question.)

Play them and see what sounds right to you go to the store get a decent guitar off the rack ask to use a fender tube amp mess with the nobs and play with the pedals for a while until you find the one that suits your style.

I did extensive research into this. Some other forums posts discussing any differences, etc. and I have been through three different OC2 Octaves. my self. Two early MIJ (one beat to hell) and one not too old MIT. Together with the research and listening to both and taking them both apart to compare. They are exactly the same. Being such a simple circut, it seems (they %@$#*) have been able to keep it the same. I kept the newer MIT on my pedal board. Sold the other two way back. I figure it's less used, sounds fantastic!

Ok , I'm gonna go against the grain here.. I've had a MIJ Octaver, and I agree it is a good pedal. However, I would urge you to look into the POG or micro pog. The Boss is monophonic , the EH is polyphonic. The non musical artifacts created by the Boss were just too much . The tracking leaves a lot to be desired. If you even look at another note with the Boss, you get some squirrelly sounds... There's a clip on YT from Dave Wiener (plays for Vai) where he goes through the POG. Just a suggestion...

Build your own clone has a clone of the musitronics octave divider $119.00. Of course you have to put it together. I''ve used the boss and the foxrox octron. All three sound similar. Out of the three the the octron tracked the best. The octave down effects only work well on single notes and some say the neck pickup gives the best tracking. The pog could be cool for its ability to work with cords or things with more than one note. It just depends on how jerry specific you want to get. The boss oc-3 has the octave-2 circuit and the poly circuit in it. Best of both worlds. Greg...

Wow! Thanks, everyone, for the ideas and advice. This forum never fails to amaze me with the depth of knowledge, experience, and willingness to share.

I guess picking a pedal like this is like buying a mattress--you have to try, buy, and you still don't know until you've had it awhile. I'll hit the guitar mega-plex the next time I head to the city and give some of these a go.

I use a POG II and it is awesome. So many ways to manipulate the tone and it tracks better than any of the others I have tried. It is very pricy, but if you cross one in the Ebay or C-List on the cheap, I would snag that up! It is not at all a one trick pony, its like a 20 trick pony with so many noises you can make and store into the pedal for instant recall... I think if I was in the market on your budget, the BYOC version looks tasty.

The Boss Octave OC-2 is a pretty good choice for the money. You can find them for like $45 on Ebay or CL (actually I think I scored one for like $35).

They work and sound good, and it was good enough for Jerry. It is mono phonic that is for sure. That means only use it for one note at a time, not for chords. If you play multiple notes, it makes distortion and sounds bad. Don't do that. Works great with the envelope follower (use before the EF).

One of the best pedals for the money, and like I said, good enough for Jerry, good enough for me.

Heard someone use the POG the other day and it sounded good, maybe more natural than the Oc-2.